{"id":52301,"date":"2026-08-21T07:48:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/?p=52301"},"modified":"2026-08-21T07:48:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T11:48:43","slug":"michelle-rodriguez-says-hollywood-felt-like-the-devils-world-after-religious-upbringing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2026\/08\/michelle-rodriguez-says-hollywood-felt-like-the-devils-world-after-religious-upbringing.html","title":{"rendered":"Michelle Rodriguez Says Hollywood Felt Like the ‘Devil’s World’ After Religious Upbringing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Denis Makarenko \/ Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Michelle Rodriguez looks back on how her strict religious upbringing shaped her view of Hollywood when she landed the role that would change her life.<\/p>\n

The “Fast & Furious” star, 48, reflected on joining the original 2001 film during a 25th anniversary screening in Los Angeles. At the time, Rodriguez had been raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, and she said entering the entertainment industry felt like stepping into what she had been taught to view as the “devil’s world.”<\/p>\n

“I came from a Jehovah’s Witness background at the time,” Rodriguez told People<\/em><\/a>. “So it’s like none of this really means anything to me.”<\/p>\n

Rodriguez was still relatively new to Hollywood when she landed the role of Letty Ortiz. She had appeared in the independent films “Girlfight” and “3 A.M.” before being cast opposite Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker in “The Fast and the Furious.”<\/p>\n

She said Diesel had seen “Girlfight” and liked her character enough that he wanted her to play his girlfriend in the new street-racing movie. But Rodriguez’s religious background meant she approached the opportunity differently from many young actors might.<\/p>\n

“I’m already playing in the so-called devil’s world in my mind as a 20-year-old, obviously,” she said.<\/p>\n

While she wasn’t initially impressed by the prospect of Hollywood fame, Rodriguez said she was excited about what the role allowed her to do. She learned to race cars and perform other action-oriented tasks she would not normally encounter in everyday life.<\/p>\n

The film became a massive success and launched one of Hollywood’s biggest franchises. Rodriguez has since portrayed Letty in eight “Fast & Furious” movies while also appearing in projects including “Lost,” “Widows,” and “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.”<\/p>\n

Her latest comments are not the first time Rodriguez has spoken candidly about the impact of her religious childhood.<\/p>\n

During an appearance<\/a> on “Red Table Talk,” Rodriguez described just how restrictive her upbringing could be, saying celebrations such as birthdays and Halloween were considered evil. She also said she was not allowed to watch Disney movies until she was a teenager because they depicted witchcraft.<\/p>\n

In an interview<\/a> with Interview magazine, Rodriguez went even further, saying her experience with religion had “kind of scarred me for life.” She recalled feeling as though she lived a “double life,” particularly when she went door to door with her family and occasionally found herself knocking on the homes of classmates.<\/p>\n

At school, Rodriguez said she was a tomboy trying to fit in with her friends. At home, she was expected to follow the rules of her family’s faith.<\/p>\n

Now, 25 years after “The Fast and the Furious” introduced her to a worldwide audience, Rodriguez can look back on the unusual mindset she carried into Hollywood. What felt to her then like entering the “devil’s world” ultimately became the beginning of a career that has lasted more than two decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michelle Rodriguez looks back on how her strict religious upbringing shaped her view of Hollywood when she landed the role that would change her life. The “Fast & Furious” star, 48, reflected on joining the original 2001 film during a 25th anniversary screening in Los Angeles. At the time, Rodriguez had been raised as a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":52304,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-television"],"yoast_head":"\nMichelle Rodriguez Says Hollywood Felt Like the 'Devil's World' After Religious Upbringing<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Michelle Rodriguez recalls how her strict Jehovah's Witness upbringing made Hollywood feel like the "devil's world" early in her career.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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